Jump to content

Live: Emerald Princess - South America including Machu Picchu Explorer Land Tour


bassmaster150
 Share

Recommended Posts

On LA to Santiago there was a yearly balancing test that the ship needed to do so no access between midnight and 4am. It sounded like except for that, boarding would take place all night.

 

 

My partner and myself had great fun in making up different methods used for "Balancing" the ship in the crooners bar that very night, I explained that the tour buses used in the day would all be tied to the boat and drive in the opposite direction, release the ropes and the balancing begins. That and other methods which seemed to horrify the table next to ours. Lima is an interesting place and we did the historical day tour and the fountain gardens night tour. The day tour was fantastic though I wouldn't recommend the fountains in the night unless you've never seen such a thing. The traffic in Lima is pretty shocking but it adds to the experience, with that said it created a "first time ever" princess experience for us. On the night tour, I think many of the passengers hadn't left the ship during the day and thought the traffic was because it was peak hour. After listening to miserable people moaning for 2 hours the bus slams it's breaks (Avoiding an accident) on resulting in some foreheads meeting the seat in front. A few of us saw the car that created this incident and had a bit of a giggle. One of the husbands of the "head banging" wives though he might pick a fight one of the gigglers. Well it was on for the next few hours, a guy on crutches trying to fight with a senior. At this stage we both left the group and did our own thing which is a pity as our guide was fantastic.

 

 

Lima Peru is a fantastic and interesting place, it really is worth visiting. Princess do a good job on shuttle buses out of the port of Callao. You will probably miss dinner if you're on a night tour and the drivers are nut cases, don't let it put you off.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Just an FYI. We had problems with Drlta in Cincinnati Airport because they didn’t want to allow us to check for free two bags apiece. Even when Jim found it on the web to show the Delta Agent he refused to accept it because the system kept coming up that we had to pay for it. Finally he agreed to wave the extra baggage fee!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Can you tell us about the land tour portion? Did u feel rushed at all? Did u have enough time to see everything you wanted to see? Any hiking on the Inca Trail?

The land tour of Peru was fantastic and tye highlight for us. You are busy for most of the day, but you see so many things and places it’s worth it. You spend time on the coach and train so can relax then. Machu Picchu and the Sacred Valley was worth the trip alone! We didn’t hike the Inca trail as such but there was plenty of time to explore.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 months later...

Thank you for sharing!

1) Are there any bathrooms on the drive to/from the penguins in either port?

2) When someone mentioned that everything was closed on Christmas and New Years, the tours still ran normally, right??

3) Is the Antarctica excursion offered on every Cape Horn sailing (weather permitting of course)?

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Link to comment
Share on other sites

quick question - for the tender ports, did passengers NOT taking princess excursions just line up to tender ashore? or was there a ticketing system? or?

 

Pax went to the designated MDR to get a ticket to board the tenders. They sat in the MDR until their number was called. Since there were so many elite aboard, all the elite went to the Explorer's Lounge to get a ticket for boarding the tenders. Elite are supposed to get first priority to the tenders but not in front of the ship excursions.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thank you for sharing!

1) Are there any bathrooms on the drive to/from the penguins in either port?

2) When someone mentioned that everything was closed on Christmas and New Years, the tours still ran normally, right??

3) Is the Antarctica excursion offered on every Cape Horn sailing (weather permitting of course)?

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

For the Excursion to Volunteer Point (private) there was a bathroom about an hour into the trip as we transitioned from road to driving over the land. Once at the penguins, there were bathrooms there as well.

 

I did the Santiago to Buenos Aires and there was an Antarctica tour available but it was not guaranteed that you would get there - and there was no refund.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I did non-cruiseline tours in several of the ports - going to VP in stanley, we were offered a bathroom pit-stop right at the pier, then were in the 4x4 in transit about 2h right to VP (there are bathrooms there).

For Puerto Madryn, we did a non-cruiseline tour of Peninsula Valdes, and there were frequent stops in places with bathrooms (the penguin portion was a bit of a letdown after VP since there were fewer, only 1 species not 3spp like VP and we couldnt' get as close as at VP, but the rest of the tour - ele seals, sealions, the landscapes, wild guanacos etc - was awesome. If we'd done the cruise in the reverse order we'd have thought it was amazing, and then been even MORE blown away at VP, lol

3- as far as i know, princess offers the antarctic excursion on every cruise around the horn. It is not a guaranty to get there, but our table-mates went and said it was INCREDIBLE and worth the expense.

 

 

 

Thank you for sharing!

1) Are there any bathrooms on the drive to/from the penguins in either port?

2) When someone mentioned that everything was closed on Christmas and New Years, the tours still ran normally, right??

3) Is the Antarctica excursion offered on every Cape Horn sailing (weather permitting of course)?

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I did the Santiago to Buenos Aires and there was an Antarctica tour available but it was not guaranteed that you would get there - and there was no refund.

 

This is an expensive tour (minimum cost is $3500) and a great financial loss if you cannot get to Antarctica. If they know the plane cant go before takeoff, then the arrange a different land tour from the port, but (at least in the past) with no refund for the alternative experience.

 

Several years ago we were on the last cruise that did provide a refund. In this case, the plane did take off, flew halfway to Antarctica and then turned back upon learning weather conditions changed and a landing would not be possible. The passengers demanded a refund for their flight to nowhere and one was reluctantly given. After that, the no refund policy was instituted. From the excursion provider's view, they did spend money on fuel, salaries and plane operating expenses. From the passenger's view, they did not get what they had paid for.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This is an expensive tour (minimum cost is $3500) and a great financial loss if you cannot get to Antarctica. If they know the plane cant go before takeoff, then the arrange a different land tour from the port, but (at least in the past) with no refund for the alternative experience.

 

 

 

Several years ago we were on the last cruise that did provide a refund. In this case, the plane did take off, flew halfway to Antarctica and then turned back upon learning weather conditions changed and a landing would not be possible. The passengers demanded a refund for their flight to nowhere and one was reluctantly given. After that, the no refund policy was instituted. From the excursion provider's view, they did spend money on fuel, salaries and plane operating expenses. From the passenger's view, they did not get what they had paid for.

 

 

 

Oh boy; I missed the part about it being nonrefundable regardless! That changes everything. [emoji57] Thank you, Caribill for making sure I understood that part.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 months later...
  • 5 months later...

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now
 Share

  • Forum Jump
    • Categories
      • Welcome to Cruise Critic
      • New Cruisers
      • Cruise Lines “A – O”
      • Cruise Lines “P – Z”
      • River Cruising
      • ROLL CALLS
      • Digital Photography & Cruise Technology
      • Special Interest Cruising
      • Cruise Discussion Topics
      • UK Cruising
      • Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
      • Canadian Cruisers
      • North American Homeports
      • Ports of Call
      • Cruise Conversations
×
×
  • Create New...